That's a great idea for the clock! I will have to figure out how to implement this graphically when I plan on the closing time not being always 7 PM, however I love the idea.
The stolen goods dilemma you faced on your first encounter with it is the intent, and I definitely want to keep pressure up on the player for participating even when learning how Heat works. I may end up increasing Heat by 1 either when you buy a stolen good or sell one (or both). This way, the rumor mill would turn no matter how much you tried to keep clean while fencing. Then I could have the Heat naturally decay, and even have an option for Heat reduction as a nighttime activity.
Theft and vandalism are targets for a future update, and I think having shop upgrades would help with this. I want to be careful about nighttime burglaries, because I don't want to force the player into a state where they need to worry about the end state of the shop being drastically different for the day.
Maybe at some point I'll add shutter graphics when the store is closed? But that wouldn't mean security upgrades wouldn't be good to have. Stuff like hardened glass display cases could slow a thief down, security cameras increase the chances of recovering goods later, etc. And things that have a higher main effect could as you said have side effects like lowering hype or making customers agitated.
The "damaged" mechanic is currently really a flavor mechanic to show why some items are priced differently (the synergy between Mint items and Trashed items is kind of a secret interaction). Refurbishing as a nighttime event is something I'd like to explore in that case. I also have "size" mechanics as you might have seen next to some of the items, that is actually function-less at the moment but I'd like for that to affect how stealable certain items are. Stuff like valuable jewelry is to be balanced out by theft risk, but currently a designer neckless can be a overpowered hype generator.
I don't want to lean too heavily into any sort of narrative, but if I end up adding different debtors then "Interference" events would definitely be a neat way of differentiating them. I've thought about all sorts of Family interactions, as you said them needing to "borrow" some merchandise (which I will add because it is flavorful).
I appreciate all of the feedback!